Everything In Its Proper Place

[Link]

This neighborhood isn’t quite Stepford Wives, and it isn’t quite Pleasantville, but its definitely Suburbia, USA. The weather is fine, as it usually is in California, and in this area of town, most people don’t have a care in the world. They live comfortable lives with good jobs, picket fences, dogs in the front yard and SUVs parked in the driveway. This pristine environment is interrupted by a man that does not belong here, but perhaps his intentions are pure. Perhaps the good the radiates from these streets can change the man, can influence the man. Alternatively, perhaps this man can change these streets. Link, the man in question, paces back and forth in front of his car smoking a cigarette, stopping only to squint at a house in the middle of the block. He takes a large drag from the cigarette and throws it down onto the ground, crushing it with the toe of his shoe. He walks melodically up to the front door. He takes a deep breath as his fist waits for the command to knock two inches from the door. He thinks to himself, “how can I walk into a steel cage with sadistic men with no hesitation and yet this simple act frightens me?”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A young beautiful woman opens the door with a puzzled and surprised look upon her face. She is much shorter than Link, younger, but lines in her face tell the story of a rough and stressed life. Link smiles at her and speaks with a soft unfamiliar voice. A voice so strong, yet so vulnerable. “Hello, Lolita.”

Lolita: James, I…come in, please come in!

The two exchange a loving hug as Link walks into the home. Lolita leads Link into the living room where the two sit down on a large leather couch. The room is adorned with nice furniture, artwork, rugs and throw pillows. The place is very clean and not a single item is out of order or out of place.

Lolita: We’ve missed you, all of us. What’s going on in your life?

Link: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and thinking about my future and my priorities. I know it hasn’t been easy, with everything that’s happened to you and what’s happened between me and Adam, but I want you to know, that I miss you, both of you. And I want a relationship.

Lolita: We love you very much, but you know how Adam feels about your profession. It’s corrupt, and half the things done are illegal, and you…well you know how you get when you get around that lifestyle, you become something different. James, you become something scary.

Link: I know. However, you will be happy to know, I have been clean, for a while. I am making changes. I have recently been, enlightened.

Lolita: Please, don’t talk about enligh…

Link: No I’m serious, but it’s made me realize what I’ve missed in this world, and that I can’t change the world by myself. I’m only one man. I started off in this business like any other rookie just trying to get paid and get glory, but then I met someone that changed everything. My perspective shifted and my eyes were opened. I saw that I could do something more. And then they stabbed me in the back and banned me from that organization. And..

Lolita: And then you came home! Do you remember, you were fired from WFWF after you lost the world title, and you hit rock bottom. You turned to drugs, you turned to violence, but in the end you came to the place where you knew you had support, you knew you could survive, you came home!

Lolita gets up and walks into the other room briefly, and returns with a photograph. She extends the photo out towards Link and he grabs it and looks at it.

Lolita: This was taken three years after you left WFWF and look how happy we were. The Carters siblings together again. You and Adam were even getting along. But then you left, to join…what was it. ECW?

Link: EWC. Yes. Perhaps a mistake, but I had something left inside of me, I had to bring justice to the corrupt and show those that thought they were incorruptible that they too were corrupt.

Lolita: By becoming corrupt yourself!? You make no sense James. Seriously.

Link: My means were justified by my ends. And despite what I’ve done, I HAVE changed lives. And because of what I did there, I met some amazing people. I met a business partner and while we had different ethics and beliefs, we clicked and we dominated. I met Jeff, who I can say is one of the only friends I have ever really had in this business. He was so pure. And I met Lake whose actions coupled with my actions have changed our lives forever. The work I did there, changed lives.

Lolita: At the expense of your own.

Silence.

Link: Point being, I do not know what I am doing in APW. I came here to help one man, my friend Jeff, and to get rid of some of the poison affecting his company. Most of that poison is gone, but I haven’t even come close to saving Jeff and the longer I stay in APW the longer I question “how long can I do this” and “what is the point in all of this?”

Lolita: So what are you going to do?

Link: I’m going to stop. I’m going to come home. I’m tired of being alone. I’m tired of fighting this never ending battle on my own. I thought about trying to convince Adam to join up with me, but I know he would never lace up his boots again. He hates the business.

Lolita: We are your family, and we are all that we have left, and I promise you James, we are here for you. James, I love you very very much. But you know you are going to need to get some help. There are psychological issues that you need to face James. I’ve finally got you back, I’m not going to lose you again. I don’t want anything to trigger in your mind. I don’t want you ever to be “Link” again. Let me call Adam.

Tears of joy begin to swell up in Lolita’s eyes as she stands up and goes to find her phone. James “Link” Carter stares at the photograph and smiles at the thought of coming home. Finally ending his quest and his journey and throwing in the towel. He thinks of walks in the park, spending time with his family, playing sports, living a normal life. He recalls all the things he has told his opponents about valuing life and knowing that in the end we aren’t special and that we don’t deserve half the things we attain for or are given. He begins to think that maybe after all his hard work, he can stop. He can stop being lonely and maybe just maybe he deserves to live a happy life. For once, his mind is at peace. He is James Carter. He looks around the suburban home and is transfixed in all of its wonders. The comfort of material possessions. BZZZZZZZZZ. BZZZZZZZZ.

He is snapped out of his trance and looks down and inside his jacket pocket. Checking his phone, he has received a text from someone whose information is not saved in his phone, but he recognizes the number. He deleted that contact months ago, what could they possibly want with him now? His thumb reluctantly presses the “read” button and his body freezes as he reads the text. He reads the text once over fast, and then reads it’s again and again and again each time slower and slower.

Text Message 102:Oi, Linko. Miss me? I have plans for our future. Everything is going to change. We are going to start a revolution. Time for this lot to get what they deserve. I’ll be in contact.

Maybe these words mean something to do you, maybe they don’t. Maybe you don’t fully understand the heaviness of this text message, especially coming at a time when Link was ready to be James Carter again. He was going to be balanced he was going to be free. But this text message upset that balance. It brought back memories of pleasure and pain. Of enlightenment and of triumph. It brought back every feeling and emotion that gave Link power and strength. It reminded him of Freak, Silent Assassin, Syth, Bomb, Moses Lake, and Ricker. It even reminded him of Level One and Trevor Blackwell. He couldn’t stop now, even if he wanted to. Link was alive, Link was back, and now he wasn’t alone.

Link stands up and drops the photo that was in his hand on the coffee table and bolts out of the room and out of the front door. As the door slams behind him Lolita comes back into the living room on the phone with Adam.

Lolita: Yeah, I couldn’t believe it myself, but he’s…gone.

We fade out into the picture that Link has dropped behind.

_______________________________

In the large, main room of a warehouse being rented by our hero, Link thrashes around throwing boxes and props and equipment. He angrily shouts and kicks over tables and chairs. He grabs a television and rips it from the wall and throws it as far as he can. Loud thrashing and crashing sounds are made and the air in the room is very thin.

Link: Look at me. LOOK AT ME! I’m intense, can’t you tell? Anyone can do that. Twister, your fits of rage and intensity are faker than the tits on Michael Lively’s mother. You are washed up, you are watered down and you have long been on the slippery slope of irrelevance. How is it that so many people can suck at the same time in APW? You, Dr. Matt, Trevor Blackwell, Tab…well pretty much all of Pure “Innovation”. I mean, if half the roster is choking in every match, who is winning? Oh, that’s right. I am. Let me level with you, I don’t hate you, I don’t really even know you. Fact of the matter is, you haven’t been much of a Twister lately have you? I mean, you’ve been more like a breeze than anything. But you have a plan don’t you? You’re going to show the authority who is boss. I appreciated your little antics in the office of Maxwell Carter. I found them amusing. Like a Saturday Morning cartoon. You don’t know Max Carter, but let me tell you, he is a sick bastard. I can appreciate that about a person though, willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Max Carter and I share that about each other. We also happen to share a last name. No, no. We aren’t related. Have you seen that ugly son of a bitch? Fuck, every time I check, he looks different anyway. Can’t settle on a look. If you are listening Max Carter, it doesn’t matter how you style your hair, you are always going to look like a faggot. But I digress…

Link: Twister, you were World Champ once? Wow. You do something. You inspire hope. You see, if you, Twister, can become World champ, ANYONE can become world champ. Think of the starving children in Africa, or the retarded kids in Cincinnati, or the underprivileged children in the inner cities, or the half boy/half girl freaks that are too scared to change in the school locker room, you give hope to each and every one of them! They too can grow up to become APW world champion. BUT, as they will learn, the world tends to correct itself and put everything where it belongs. Everything seems to go back in its proper place and order. Just like you, they will lose their title and go back to their pathetic lives, drooling out of the sides of their mouths, or robbing liquor stores. You couldn’t hold onto that title once real competition and skill came here, and you, sorry buddy, will never get back there. Let me reiterate. I don’t hate you, and I don’t dislike you Twister, but I’m an honest man, and I’m here, as it is my GOD GIVEN DUTY, to tell you that you just aren’t good enough. You aren’t good enough for the world title anymore, and you definitely aren’t good enough to beat me. 2009 won’t be your year, you started it off getting your ass kicked in a 6 man tag match. I started it off kicking the shit out of Trevor Blackwell. I didn’t just make his ass look weak by tapping out, I made him look weak AND stubborn, by making his ass go to sleep.

Link: As I said, the world works in mysterious ways. It wants to put things where they belong. I tried going somewhere I did not belong, I tried to forget about you about APW and about everything, and the world didn’t like that, so it brought me back. It delivered a message to me, from someone that I have unfinished business with. It delivered a message to me that made me realize, Link, you aren’t done, and you will never be done, until EVERY FUCKING APW superstar has been enlightened, and until Jeffery sees the errors of his ways. I won’t be done until I take this company over, or until I die trying. Twister, I appreciate what you’ve done for this company, you’ve been loyal you’ve been active, but the fact is, I’m going to embarrass your ass out there on Overdrive. I’m going to enlighten you. You are going to open your eyes after the three count and realize that you are just a glorified mid-carder. You are going to realize that perhaps you should have listened to your friends advice about getting your associates degree at the junior college. But now you’ve got nothing to fall back on. You’ve got nothing to look forward to except wadding in the muddle. Don’t try and scheme a way into being number one contender. That belt belongs to Sabur, and Trevor Blackwell is just a bitch who can’t hang, so he resorts to cheap antics. He is no champion. I beat him, easily. I will beat you easily. I could and will beat Sabur easily. Hell, I should have beat Level One easily, but was SCREWED! Again! But rest assured Twister, your new favorite APW Superstar has plans now. And I’m not alone. Stay tuned Twister you might actually learn something.

Link: You hear that?

Link puts his watch up to his ear, listening to the sounds of the second hand tick and tock.

Link: It’s time for you to get your ass kicked. Its time for you to open your eyes, and either realize that you are wasted talent, or step up and become that monster that everyone says you used to be. I will be rooting for you Twister.